The Graduate Diploma in Psychological Sciences has been designed for students who have an undergraduate degree that does not include Psychology or does not include Psychology beyond Level I. It requires one year of full-time study, or a maximum of two consecutive years of part-time study.

The Graduate Diploma is also suitable for applicants who have completed a psychology degree or a generalist degree with a major in psychology more than 5 years ago.

Applicants who have completed only level II psychology subjects, within the past 5 years, are eligible if no more than three courses or less have been completed (credit towards the Graduate Diploma will be granted in such cases).  Applicants whose psychology degree is older than 5 years are eligible to apply but no credit will be granted.

The Graduate Diploma in Psychological Sciences includes all the Level II and Level III psychology courses required by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council to enable students to apply for Honours Psychology.

The pre-requisites for the Graduate Diploma in Psychological Sciences are

1.     an undergraduate degree from an approved university and

2.     Psychology IA and Psychology IB (or equivalent) completed within the past 10 years. 

Applicants who do not have the pre-requisite psychology studies or whose Level I psychology is older than 10 years can attend an intensive summer course, Introductory Psychology.  Introductory Psychology is held over 6-weeks from early January to mid February. 

Full-time students study level II and III psychology courses to the value of 24 units over one year. Part-time students study Level II courses in their first year, to the value of 12 units, and Level III courses in their second year.

See 'Study Plan' for course outlines

Written practical reports and assignments, written and multiple-choice exams, participation in School research projects

According to the Commonwealth Government Job Search Website employment growth for Psychologists to 2014-15 is expected to grow strongly. The range of jobs available to psychologists is also becoming increasingly varied.

Graduates in this program can look in areas such as research assistants, recruitment agencies, government agencies such as Centerlink, marketing companies, human resources or any type of area that can utilise skills in data analysis, critical thinking, report writing, time management, communication and presentation.

www.adelaide.edu.au/dvca/gradattributes/

This program is accredited through the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council. Students completing this program will be eligible to apply for admission into an Honours program at any accredited university within Australia.

Completion of Honours can lead to two further years of study in an approved postgraduate Masters program. This will lead to registration as a Psychologist and membership of the Australian Psychological Society.

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